Naples developer Jack Antaramian will take over the mortgage for Naples Bay Resort as it faces foreclosure.

Antaramian was a partner in the project — a 20-acre resort development near Tin City in downtown Naples.

"I'm buying the note," he said. "That's what I've done."

The outstanding note is $36 million. Regions Bank, headquartered in Alabama, foreclosed on the mortgage in February.

The project has struggled for many reasons. It came in $20 million over budget, some buyers backed out of their contracts because of the way they were written and there were problems with the architect, Antaramian said.

He's been in a legal fight with Kraft Construction, the project's contractor, to review its accounting records for the project. So far it has been a losing battle.

"The place is under water," Antaramian said. "A major reason for buying the note is to be able to understand the Kraft books. What it does is it gives me a different legal standing. I'm the bank."

At a hearing last month, Collier County Circuit Judge Hugh Hayes denied a motion filed by Kraft's attorney to dismiss Antaramian's lawsuit. Antaramian thought the decision would pave the way for him to audit the contractor's books, but Kraft has come up with new legal arguments on why he doesn't have the right to see them, which will trigger more court hearings, he said.

"This is a nightmare," Antaramian said. "It's just not right."

The project was developed by Basil Street Partners LLC, which has four partners. The other partners are Fred Pezeshkan, the CEO of Kraft Construction, Raymond Sehayek and Iraj Zand. The partners signed personal guarantees, making them personally responsible for the loan, Antaramian said, and he's buying those along with the mortgage.

Bill Dean, a vice president for Kraft, defended the company's work on the project.

"First of all Kraft did excellent work out there at that project. I think anybody who looks at it – goes out and sees it – would agree with that," he said.

As far as the dispute with Antaramian, he said it's one that has to be worked out in court.

"Our contract is with Basil Street and Basil Street has no issues with our records. There are no issues with our records," Dean said

The four partners in Basil Street poured more than $20 million of their own money into the project and originally borrowed $130 million to develop it. They paid off nearly two-thirds of the loan.

Because of his dispute with his partners, Antaramian said they're targeting him and his sister, Debra Antaramian, trying to evict her from a condominium at Naples Bay Resort that she has lived in for more than a year. Basil Street Partners has sued them for trespassing, unjust enrichment and self-dealing and wants damages. According to the lawsuit, the partnership owns the title to the unit and Debra is occupying it illegally, denying it the opportunity to sell, lease or rent it.

At his own expense, Antaramian said he hired a Realtor to sell condominiums and boat slips at the project last year, but the partnership fired her. The partnership's attorney on the case couldn't immediately be reached.

"The attempt to evict my sister is clearly tied to the Kraft litigation, but by my buying the Regions note, according to my attorneys, I will be able to prevent her eviction," Antaramian said.

He signed a contract to buy the note on Tuesday and expects the deal to close in two weeks, he said. He invested $10 million in the project himself.

After getting the mortgage, he plans to foreclose on it.

"It's money that I spent that I wish I didn't have to, but that is the risk I had to take to understand what happened here," Antaramian said.

Does he expect to lose more money by buying the mortgage? "Could be," he said. "But I don't know what's in those books."